Jordin Sparks Exclusive: ‘I’m Not a Kid Anymore’

Jordin Sparks is a grown woman, who sometimes uses profanity and has had a serious boyfriend (fellow pop star, Jason “Talk Dirty” Derulo). She has matured a lot since she won American Idol Season 6 nearly eight years ago, and she hopes the public realizes that.

"I was 17 when I was on Idol. I just turned 25,” she told Yahoo Music during a recent on-camera interview. “I’m not a kid anymore. I’m coming into my womanhood. I’m coming into my own.”

Although Sparks dropped the S-bomb and sang about Derulo’s birthday suit on her ex-boyfriend’s song “Vertigo,” her fans were surprised to hear her get even edgier on a remix of Drake’s “How Bout Now” that appears on her #ByeFelicia mixtape released in December. There, she disses Derulo as she sings, “You don’t really f—- with me way back when, boy, how about now?/’Cause I’m up right now/And you suck right now.”

Sparks admits it was a little crazy hearing herself singing that song. “The first time I heard myself, I was like, ‘That’s me? That’s me? Oh my gosh, that’s me.’ So it took me a second to get used to hearing myself that way, because I’m used to hearing myself doing power ballads and screaming at the top of my lungs. So it’s been very nice to be able to use my voice in different ways.” The song, however, won’t appear on her third album, Right Here, Right Now, due out this spring.

The album produced by Salaam Remi, who has helmed projects for Amy Winehouse, Nas, and Lauryn Hill, will reflect how she has evolved since she dropped her last album, 2009’s Battlefield. “I had to do Sparkle. I had to be in love. I had to be heartbroken, because it really helped me write this record,” Sparks explained. “It helped me figure out what I wanted to say and how I can relate to my fans.”

Filming the movie Sparkle with the late Whitney Houston made a lasting impression on Sparks. The legendary diva taught Sparks a valuable lesson about persevering. “I love her strength,” Sparks said about Houston, who died in 2011, just months after shooting the movie. “She was like, ‘Yeah, I have a past.’ To see her say that – we all know the stuff she went through, all the craziness, and the media, so crazy – was just awesome for me to see. Being in this industry and wanting to do the same thing that she did – being a singer and a worldwide entertainer. It was awesome to know she was not ashamed… I feel that is something we all can take from her.”

Sparks also recalled how nice Houston was to her and her fellow castmates, Tika Sumpter and Carmen Ejogo, and was especially impressed by her relationship with her daughter, Bobbi Kristina. “If you want to talk about a mother-daughter bond,” she said, “I can’t even put my fingers close enough to describe the bond that they had. They had a very, very, special bond. I remember seeing them at one point, they were always looking for each other, and always making sure they can see each other.”

Sparks is saddened by reports of Bobbi Kristina being on a ventilator after being found unconscious in her bathtub. “I can’t imagine what the family is going through,” she said. “I don’t know how much heartache this family can take. I’ve just been praying… I just hope that things can get better. They were very close, and it was very inspiring to see.”

Watch the entire interview above for more details on Right Here, Right Now, Sparks’s new song “Double Tap” featuring 2 Chainz, the advice she gave to Season 14′s Idol contestants, and life lessons from her parents.

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